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Ezekiel 23
Legacy Standard Bible

The Harlotries of Oholah and Oholibah

23 The word of Yahweh came to me again, saying, 2 “Son of man, there were (A)two women, the daughters of one mother; 3 and they played the harlot in Egypt. They (B)played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed, and there their virgin bosom was handled. 4 Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.

5 “Oholah played the harlot [a]while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the (C)Assyrians, her neighbors, 6 who were clothed in purple, (D)governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She gave her harlotries to them, all of them the choicest [b]men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she (E)defiled herself. 8 She did not forsake her harlotries (F)from the time in Egypt; for in her youth [c]men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their harlotry on her. 9 Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her (G)lovers, into the hand of the [d]Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 They (H)uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they killed her with the sword. Thus she became a despised name among women, and they executed judgments on her.

11 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was (I)more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. 12 She lusted after the [e](J)Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable choice men. 13 And I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took [f]the same way. 14 So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men (K)portrayed on the wall, images of the (L)Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, 15 girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, in the likeness of the [g]Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. 16 [h]And she saw them and (M)lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 So the [i](N)Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. Then she became defiled by them, and her soul became disgusted with them. 18 And she (O)uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then My soul became (P)disgusted with her, as My soul had become disgusted with her (Q)sister. 19 Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. 20 She (R)lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. 21 Thus you [j]longed for the (S)lewdness of your youth, when [k]the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth.

22 “Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will arouse your lovers against you, those with whom your soul was disgusted, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the [l](T)Babylonians and all the (U)Chaldeans, (V)Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the [m](W)Assyrians with them; desirable choice men, governors and officials, all of them, officers and [n]men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will come against you with weapons, (X)chariots and [o]wagons, and with an assembly of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with large shield and shield and helmet; and I will give the (Y)judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will set My (Z)jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your [p]survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your (AA)sons and your daughters; and your [q]survivors will be consumed by the fire. 26 They will also (AB)strip you of your clothes and take away your (AC)beautiful jewelry. 27 Thus (AD)I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ 28 For thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you (AE)hate, into the hand of those with whom your soul was disgusted. 29 They will (AF)deal with you in hatred, take all the fruit of your labor, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. 30 These things will be done to you because you have (AG)played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give (AH)her cup into your hand.’ 32 Thus says Lord Yahweh,

‘You will (AI)drink your sister’s cup,
Which is deep and wide.
[r]You will be (AJ)laughed at and held in derision;
It contains much.
33 You will be filled with (AK)drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You will (AL)drink it and drain it.
Then you will gnaw its fragments
And tear your breasts;

for I have spoken,’ declares Lord Yahweh. 35 Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have (AM)forgotten Me and (AN)cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’”

36 Moreover, Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, will you (AO)judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then (AP)declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, (AQ)whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to [s]them as food. 38 Again, they have done this to Me: they have (AR)defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have (AS)profaned My sabbaths. 39 For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My (AT)sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and behold, thus they did within My house.

40 “Furthermore, [t]they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and behold, they came—for whom you bathed, (AU)painted your eyes, and (AV)decorated yourselves with ornaments; 41 and you sat on a splendid (AW)couch with a (AX)table arranged before it on which you had set My (AY)incense and My (AZ)oil. 42 The sound of a multitude (BA)at ease was with her; and (BB)drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the [u]common sort. And they put (BC)bracelets on [v]the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads.

43 “Then I said concerning her who was (BD)worn out by adulteries, ‘[w]Will they now commit harlotry with her when she is thus?’ 44 [x]But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But they, righteous men, will (BE)judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands.

46 “For thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Bring up an assembly against them and give them over to (BF)terror and plunder. 47 The assembly will (BG)stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will kill their sons and their daughters and (BH)burn their houses with fire. 48 Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be chastised and not commit [y]lewdness as you have done. 49 Your lewdness [z]will be (BI)requited upon you, and you will bear the sin of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am Lord Yahweh.’”

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:5 Lit under Me
  2. Ezekiel 23:7 Lit sons of Asshur
  3. Ezekiel 23:8 Lit they
  4. Ezekiel 23:9 Lit sons of Asshur
  5. Ezekiel 23:12 Lit sons of Asshur
  6. Ezekiel 23:13 Lit one
  7. Ezekiel 23:15 Lit sons of Babel
  8. Ezekiel 23:16 Lit At the sight of her eyes
  9. Ezekiel 23:17 Lit sons of Babel
  10. Ezekiel 23:21 Lit visited
  11. Ezekiel 23:21 As in two mss; M.T. from Egypt
  12. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit sons of Babylon
  13. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit sons of Assyria
  14. Ezekiel 23:23 Lit the called ones
  15. Ezekiel 23:24 Lit wheels
  16. Ezekiel 23:25 Lit remainder
  17. Ezekiel 23:25 Lit remainder
  18. Ezekiel 23:32 Or It will be for jesting and deriding because of its great size
  19. Ezekiel 23:37 Idols
  20. Ezekiel 23:40 Or you (women)
  21. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit multitude of mankind
  22. Ezekiel 23:42 Lit their hands
  23. Ezekiel 23:43 Or Now they will commit adultery with her, and she with them.
  24. Ezekiel 23:44 Or And
  25. Ezekiel 23:48 Lit according to your lewdness
  26. Ezekiel 23:49 Lit they will give
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Ezekiel 23
Lexham English Bible

Oholah and Oholibah as Symbols of God’s Corrupt People

23 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “Son of man,[c] there were two women, the daughters of one mother, 3 and they prostituted themselves in Egypt in their childhood; they were prostituting themselves there, and their breasts were fondled, and there they caressed the bosoms of their virginity. 4 Now as for their names, the older was Oholah, and Oholibah was her sister. And they became mine,[d] and they bore sons and daughters, and their names[e] are Samaria for Oholah, and Jerusalem for Oholibah. 5 And Oholah prostituted herself while she was still mine,[f] and she lusted for her lovers, for Assyria who was nearby, 6 clothed in blue cloth, governors and prefects, handsome young men[g] and all of them horsemen, experts on horseback.[h] 7 And she bestowed her fornication on them, on the choice ones of the Assyrians,[i] all of them, and with every one after which she lusted; with all of their idols she defiled herself. 8 And her whorings from the time of Egypt she did not abandon, for they slept with her in her childhood, and they caressed the bosoms of her virginity, and they poured out their fornication on her. 9 Therefore I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians[j] after whom she lusted.[k] 10 They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, and they killed her with the sword. And she became a name for the women, and they executed judgments against her.

11 “And though Oholibah her sister saw, yet in her lust she behaved more corruptly than her,[l] and her whoring was more than the prostitution of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians,[m] governors and prefects, warriors[n] clothed in[o] perfection,[p] expert horsemen,[q] all of them handsome young men.[r] 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they had both taken the same path![s] 14 And she increased her whorings, and she saw men carved[t] on the wall, images of Chaldeans[u] carved in red, 15 belted with a belt at[v] their waist with turbans on their heads, all of them giving the appearance of adjutants,[w] the image[x] of the Babylonians;[y] Chaldea was the land of their birth. 16 And she lusted for them when her eyes saw them,[z] and she sent messengers to them at Chaldea. 17 And so the Babylonians[aa] came to her for the bed of lovemaking; and they defiled her with their fornication, and she was defiled by them, and she turned from them. 18 And she revealed her whorings, and she revealed her nakedness, and so I turned from her just as[ab] I turned from her sister. 19 Yet[ac] she increased her whorings, recalling[ad] the days of her childhood when she was prostituted[ae] in the land of Egypt. 20 And she lusted after her male lovers whose genitalia were the genitalia of male donkeys and their seminal emission was the seminal emission of horses. 21 And you longed after the obscene conduct of your youth when your bosom was caressed by Egypt, fondling your young breasts.

22 “Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am stirring up your lovers against you concerning whom you turned away, and I will bring them against you from all around: 23 the Babylonians[af] and all of the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all of the Assyrians[ag] along with them, handsome young men,[ah] governors and prefects, all of them adjutants[ai] and excellent horsemen.[aj] 24 And they will come against you with an army chariot and wagon and with a crowd[ak] of peoples; they will set themselves against you from all around with large shield and small shield and helmet. And I will give before them[al] judgment, and they will judge you with their judgments. 25 And I will direct my zeal against you, and they will deal with you in anger; your nose and your ears they will remove, and those who are left,[am] they will fall by the sword, and they will take your sons and your daughters, and your remnant[an] will be consumed by fire. 26 And they will strip you of your clothes, and they will take your splendid jewelry.[ao] 27 And I will put an end to your obscene conduct coming from you and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will not lift your eyes to them; and you will not remember Egypt again.’ 28 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Look! I am giving you into the hand of those you hated, into the hand of those from whom[ap] you turned away. 29 And they will deal with you in hatred, and they will take all of your acquisitions, and they will leave you naked and in bareness; and the nakedness of your fornication and your obscene conduct and your whorings will be exposed. 30 These things are accomplished[aq] against[ar] you since you prostituted yourself after the nations, and on account of that, you defiled yourself by their idols. 31 You went in the same way of your sister, and I will give her cup into your hand.”’

32 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “You will drink the deep and wide[as] cup of your sister; you will be as laughter and as scorn; the cup holds so much![at] 33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, for a cup of horror and desolation is the cup of your sister, Samaria. 34 And you will drink it, and you will drain it, and its potsherds you will gnaw, and you will tear out your breasts, for I myself[au] spoke,” declares[av] the Lord Yahweh. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Because you have forgotten me, and you threw me behind your back, now in turn[aw] you bear your obscene conduct and your whorings.”

36 And Yahweh said to me, “Son of man,[ax] will you judge Oholah and Oholibah and declare their abominable deeds to[ay] them? 37 For they committed adultery, and blood is on their hands, and they committed adultery with their idols, and even their children that they had borne for me—they sacrificed them as food! 38 Also they did this to me: they defiled my sanctuary on that day, and they profaned my Sabbaths, 39 and when they slaughtered their children for their idols, they came to my sanctuary on that day to profane it. And look, this is what they did in my house![az] 40 What is worse,[ba] they sent for men who come[bb] from a distant place, to whom a messenger was sent to them, and look! They came! Men for whom you bathed and painted your eyes, and you adorned yourself with an ornament. 41 And you sat on a magnificent couch and a table prepared before her,[bc] and my incense and my olive oil you put on her.[bd] 42 And a sound of a carefree crowd was with it,[be] and in addition to these men, a crowd of drunken men[bf] was brought in[bg] from the desert,[bh] and they put bracelets on their arms and a crown of splendor on their heads. 43 And I said to[bi] the one worn out with adulteries, ‘Now they will prostitute her concerning her fornication, even her.’[bj] 44 And so they went to her like going to a female[bk] prostitute; and thus they went to Oholah and to Oholibah, the women of obscene conduct. 45 But righteous men, they will judge them with the judgment of committing adultery, and with the judgment of shedding blood; for they were committing adultery, and blood was on their hands.”

46 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Bring up against them an assembly, and make them as a thing of horror and as plunder. 47 And an assembly must stone them with stones,[bl] and they must cut them down. With their swords they shall kill their sons and their daughters, and with fire they shall burn their houses. 48 And I will cause obscene conduct to cease from the land,[bm] and all of the women will be warned, and they will not do according to your wickedness. 49 And they will repay your obscene conduct upon you, and the guilt of your idols you will bear, and you will know that I am the Lord Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 23:1 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 23:1 Literally “to say”
  3. Ezekiel 23:2 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  4. Ezekiel 23:4 Literally “they were for me”
  5. Ezekiel 23:4 Hebrew “name”
  6. Ezekiel 23:5 Literally “under me”
  7. Ezekiel 23:6 Literally “young men of handsomeness/beauty”
  8. Ezekiel 23:6 Literally “riders of horsemen”
  9. Ezekiel 23:7 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  10. Ezekiel 23:9 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  11. Ezekiel 23:9 Literally “which she lusted for them”
  12. Ezekiel 23:11 Literally “she behaved corruptly in lust from her”
  13. Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  14. Ezekiel 23:12 Hebrew uncertain
  15. Ezekiel 23:12 Or “to”
  16. Ezekiel 23:12 Or “in full armor” or “wonderfully dressed”
  17. Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “horsemen, riders of horses”
  18. Ezekiel 23:12 Literally “young men of handsomeness”
  19. Ezekiel 23:13 Literally “way one was for the two of them”
  20. Ezekiel 23:14 Or “portrayed”
  21. Ezekiel 23:14 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
  22. Ezekiel 23:15 Or “around”
  23. Ezekiel 23:15 Or “officers”
  24. Ezekiel 23:15 Or “likeness”
  25. Ezekiel 23:15 Literally “sons of Babylon”
  26. Ezekiel 23:16 Literally “at the sight of her eyes”
  27. Ezekiel 23:17 Literally “sons of Babylon”
  28. Ezekiel 23:18 Literally “as that”
  29. Ezekiel 23:19 Or “And”
  30. Ezekiel 23:19 Or “remembering”
  31. Ezekiel 23:19 Or “prostituted herself”
  32. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “sons of Babylon”
  33. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “sons of Assyria”
  34. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “young men of beauty/handsomeness”
  35. Ezekiel 23:23 Or “officers”
  36. Ezekiel 23:23 Literally “ones called riders of horses”
  37. Ezekiel 23:24 Or “horde” or “host of”
  38. Ezekiel 23:24 Literally “to the face of them”
  39. Ezekiel 23:25 Literally “and remainder your”
  40. Ezekiel 23:25 Literally “and remainder your”
  41. Ezekiel 23:26 Literally “the jewelry of splendor your”; or “your beautiful jewelry”
  42. Ezekiel 23:28 Literally “them”
  43. Ezekiel 23:30 Or “done”
  44. Ezekiel 23:30 Hebrew “in”
  45. Ezekiel 23:32 Or place “drink deep and wide the cup”
  46. Ezekiel 23:32 Literally “a large among to hold”
  47. Ezekiel 23:34 Literally “I, I”
  48. Ezekiel 23:34 Literally “declaration of”
  49. Ezekiel 23:35 Or “also”
  50. Ezekiel 23:36 Or “mortal,” or “son of humankind”
  51. Ezekiel 23:36 Or “for”
  52. Ezekiel 23:39 Literally “thus they did in the midst of house my”
  53. Ezekiel 23:40 Literally “and also for/indeed”
  54. Ezekiel 23:40 Literally “coming”
  55. Ezekiel 23:41 Literally “to the face of her”
  56. Ezekiel 23:41 Or “it”
  57. Ezekiel 23:42 Or “her”
  58. Ezekiel 23:42 A problematic verse; reading according to the reading tradition (Qere)
  59. Ezekiel 23:42 Literally “from an abundance of men being brought in drunken”
  60. Ezekiel 23:42 Or “wilderness”
  61. Ezekiel 23:43 Or “about”
  62. Ezekiel 23:43 Or “that she did”
  63. Ezekiel 23:44 Or “a woman”
  64. Ezekiel 23:47 Hebrew “stone”
  65. Ezekiel 23:48 Or “I will put an end to obscene conduct from the land”
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Ezekiel 22
Ezekiel 24
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